Electric-traction road.



N0. 68l,4|0. Patented Aug. 27, I90I. L. DION.

ELECTRIC TRACTION ROAD.

(Application filed Jan. 28, 1901.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

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No. 68!,4l0. Patented Aug. 27, l90l.

' L. DION.

ELECTRIC TRACTION ROAD.

(Application filed Jan. 28, 1901.] (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

mbwsses: MAJ/Q 59 if UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

LEON DION, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC-TRACTION ROAD.

SEEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 681,410, dated August 27, 1901.

Application filed January 28, 1901. Serial No. 44,980. (No model.)-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LFJON DION, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usef 111 Improvements in Electric-Traction Roads, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to closed-conduit or closed-pocket electric-traction roads which employ a surface conductor comprising a series of insulated conductive sections which are successively energized froman unexposed main conductor or feeder through the agency of a magnet carried by the car.

One object of the invention is to provide for the ready removal and renewal of the parts which are exposed to destructive influences or derangement.

Another object is to provide for an improved construction and location of the conduit with respect to the cross-ties of a railway, whereby the ties may be removed and replaced without disturbing the conduit.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of an electric railway constructedin accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 represents a transverse section thereof. Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of one of the armature members detached from the conductor or feeder. Fig. 4 represents a section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Figs. 5 to 18, inclusive, represent vertical and horizontal sections showing different modifications of the armature members. Fig. 19 represents a vertical section showing a modification of the part inclosing the armature member.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures.

In the drawings, 1 1 represent the car-supporting rails of a railway, resting upon crossties 2 2, and 3 represents a closed conduit laid underneath said ties and composed of a suitable material, such as cement, although I do not confine myself to the use of any particular material. At intervals between the ties are located upwardly-projecting members 4 4:, forming part of the conduit construction or the material of its walls and extending to the surface of the roadway, the remaining portion 5 of said roadway being composed of any suitable roadway material. After the removal of the rails 1 l and of the roadway material covering the ties said ties may be readily reached and removed without disturbing the conduit, this being of particular. advantage in street railway construction in cities where it is usually inconvenient to remove any large portion of the roadway outside of the space between the rails.

6 6 represent a series of pockets or recesses projecting upwardly from the conduit 3 and formed by embedding inverted-cup-shaped members 7 in the projections 4, the upper ends of said cups in the present instance forming a surface conductor of insulated sections, from which a collecting-shoe 8 carried by the car collects current as the car passes along. The cups 7 are preferably composed of a suitable non-magnetic material, such as manganese steel.

Vithin the conduit 3 is located a main conductor or feeder 9, and upon said feeder rests a flexible auxiliary conductor 10. Said auxiliary conductor in the form of myinvention shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, and also in Figs. 7, 9, 11, and 13 is composed of magnetic material, such as soft iron. 7

Referring for the present to Figs. 1 to 4., 11 11 represent a series of armature members projecting upwardly from the auxiliary conductor 10 into the pockets 6 6 and insulated from contact with the sides of said pockets by suitable insulating-rings 12 12. The armature members 11 are U-shaped permanent magnets seperably united at their lower ends with the auxiliary conductor 10 by the attraction which they exert on said conductor. As the car passes along a magnet 13 carried thereby acting on the upper ends of the ar mature members 11 raises said members and they in turn lift the auxiliary conductor 10 into contact with the lower ends of the cups 7, the surface conductor formed by the upper ends of said cups having its sections thereby successively energized. In case of damage done to the armature members 11 by fusion due to arcing or any other derangement of said members rendering them inoperative or imperfectly operative the said armature members 11 may be removed and new ones substituted without removing either the main or auxiliary conductors andwithout any considerable interruption to traffic. In the figures, with the exception of Fi 19, the removal of the cup 7 will also be required. In Fig. 19 the cup 7 is shown as provided at its upper end with a removable screw-plug 14:,

a vertical magnetic rod 15, such as that whose upper end is shown in Fig. 19, said rod having a screw-threaded lower end 16 engaged with a threaded aperture in the auxiliary conductor 10, the upper end of said rod having a slot 17 for engagement by a screw-driver. In this case the auxiliary conductor need not be magnetic. Figs. 7 and 8 show an armature member composed of a plurality of permanent bar-magnets 18 18, detach-ably united by their magnetic attraction with a magnetic auxiliary conductor 10. Figs 9 and 10 show a U-shaped permanent magnet 11 similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 4 and united by magnetic attraction to an auxiliary conductor 19, having portions 2O turned up between the legs of the magnet. Figs. 1.1 and 12 show a tubular permanent magnet 21. Figs. 13 and 14 show a single bar-magnet 22. Figs. 15 and 16 show a helical magnetic spring 23, having its lower end detachably secured to the main conductor 9 by means of a-screw 24. Figs, 17 and 18 show a fluted spring 25, secured to the main conductor in a similar manner. It is obvious that any of the forms of armature members may be employed in connection with the cup having the detachable screw-plug 14, as shown in Fig. 19. Various other modificationsmay be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim- 1. In an electric-traction road, the combination of a closed conduit having a series of pockets or' recesses projecting toward the roadway-su rface, a conductorin said conduit and aseries of armature members projecting from said conductor into the pockets and detachably secured to the conductor.

2. In an electric-traction road, the combination of a closed conduit having a series of pockets or recesses projecting toward the roadway-surface, a conductor in said conduit, a series of armature members projecting from said conductor into the pockets and detachably secured to the conductor, and removable closers for the upper ends of said pockets.

3. In an electric-traction road, the combination of the cross-ties, the car-supporting rails resting thereon, a closed conduit laid beneath the ties and having aseries of pockets or recesses projecting upwardly between the ties and a conductor in said conduit having armature members projecting into said pockets.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my Signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEoN DION.

Witnesses:

O. A. GoDLnY, R. M. PIERSON. 

